


The Notes of Patroclus

by Scarlet Letter (TheTartWitch)



Series: Rewrites [3]
Category: The Song of Achilles - Madeline Miller
Genre: Fleeing for the hills, M/M, POV Patroclus, Patroclus does not meet Achilles, Patroclus is a shepherd, Well - Freeform, accidental murder, he doesn't meet him IMMEDIATELY, mostly - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-01-03
Updated: 2016-01-06
Packaged: 2018-05-11 12:43:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 626
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5627086
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheTartWitch/pseuds/Scarlet%20Letter
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Patroclus is the notes making up Achilles's song, but they never met so early. Patroclus is the murderer of a noble's son and in his terror flees deep into the mountains, where Apollo takes pity on him and makes him the tender of Apollo's heavenly sheep. When the Trojan War begins, Thetis warns the war party that Apollo will be brutal in his defense of Troy, and that if they want to win they will need to have a secret weapon on hand to use against him...</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Patroclus

**Author's Note:**

> I will update every day. ^^;

There was once a crying prince, alone with a handful of dice and a boy's body by his feet, no longer breathing. This prince exists no longer, but for prudence's sake we'll pretend this is his story, alright? Or at least, we will for as long as we can. 

No promises. 

The prince was barely ten, a boy in all rights. He is the son of Menoitius and the slow queen, but despite his princely title he is not afforded much respect. His father thinks little of him, and truly that is all that matters to the nobles' sons. 

His refusal to give up something that is his has resulted in this: an empty, bloodless corpse and him, gaping and terrified in the face of an accident. He knows what his father will say, and how the nobles will demand payment, and how his mother will not know him to defend him. He sees all this, flashing before his eyes in an instant, and then he is turning and running into the woods and up a mountain trail into the craggy, grassy peaks of the rolling hills behind his father's palace. 

He crawls, exhausted, into a stony cave, the sky alight with the last of the day's sun. He sleeps fitfully, dreaming of the noble's angry cries and his father's fury when he cannot be found. He dreams of a man, tall and golden with eyes like coal, looking him over with a frown and setting a crook beside him with a small cough.


	2. Patroclus, Prized of Apollo

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Patroclus tends the sheep.

The morning comes late to the prince-turned-exile. The sun wavers directly overhead as he stumbles out of his stony bed and trips over a long arm of wood, smooth and curling at the top, and his dreams return to him, of a man leaving a shepherd's crook beside him. 

He hefts it uncertainly, not willing to think about who the man was, and walks softly to the opening of the cave, peeringout.  

He is at the top of a tall, tall hill. Directly below him is a field, lush and full of wildflowers. Brilliant red sheep graze quietly all around him. A forest of thick trunks and sharp leaves rings the bottom of the hill, caging him and the sheep in a fence of which the only gate is the trail, winding down the mountain like Jason's string. 

He fumbles his way out of the cave and collapses on the steps, sobbing. 

Where will he go? Who will he be, if not Prince Patroclus, son of Menoitius? Is he anyone? 

A vibrant red sheep snuffles at his hair, recognizing the crook still clenched in his trembling fist. He sniffs and smiles, a hand coming up to rest on the beast's curved horns. 

"Beautiful," he murmurs. And perhaps he could just stay here? Need he be anyone but Patroclus, shepherd of what are obviously Lord Apollo's flock?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The chapters aren't going to be very long, but there is a plot to all this. ^^;


	3. Patroclus, Beloved of Zeus

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Patroclus is tested by Zeus.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it's almost late, guys! I went back to theatre and school (I'm in high school, so), so I haven't had much time to type even this measly amount up. ^^ You should see how long it takes for me to write and type up the chapters of Daydream Believer. It's pretty awful. Tomorrow I'll have a whole hour, though!

Patroclus is now fourteen. Four years of the godly sheep has made him both skilled and horrifically bored, so when an elderly traveler ventures up the trail he is quick to welcome them inside his cave and offer them a few bowls of the simmering broth he always has over his fire. 

When he is finished with his meal, he makes an offering of mountain wildflowers and golden berries to the gods as he has always done. He does not attempt to make the traveler do so as well, however. It is everyone's own choice whether or not to worship, so while he leaves the offer open he does not push the man. 

When night falls, they sleep, but in the morning Patroclus realizes the man has disappeared without a word. He does not see both Zeus and Apollo watching him with interest from Mount Olympus.


End file.
